"The Smell of Fear"... Or, "The Smell of Trials" Adrenaline and its impact on dogs

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i think one of the coolest things about a dogs nose is their interaction with humans. when a dog can tell if a diabetic has low blood sugar it just amazes me. their nose is just awesome.

neat story and could just be a coincidence that my pup may have wanted her head scratched but my pup has never been trained to do the exact thing i just mentioned but my GF is a diabetic and one night watching a movie her blood sugar dropped well belle was laying near her all of a sudden got up (like someone was at the door) but turned toward my GF and started whining and poking her (the poking is normal when she was her head scratched but not the whining). and about that time my gf said she needed some juice to get her blood sugar back up. but for about 15-20 mins my pup would not stop looking at my GF (about the time it takes for the body to recover) before she laid back down. again could have been a coincidence but i think it was my pup was concerned about my GF and knew something was wrong.

Robert, Does this mean you disagree that if one were to turn off the eyes and ears of a seasoned Field Trial or Hunt Test dog, the dog would be able to determine that he/she's at a trial the moment you pull into the scent cone of a trial?

Let's remember the Malanoit's ability to pick the bad guy out of a crowd when tracking. Let's remember the ability of the labrador to slam on his brakes and alert on a small sample of a fertilizer/diesel fuel blend buried 14 inches under the sand. The dogs are not watching the body language of the car theif, nor that of the Al Quida IED planter.

"Determining and applying the criteria for when and when not to use correction is the essence of the art of dog training. I make a distinction between a mistake and a lack of effort." - Mike Lardy - Volume I "After Collar Conditioning"

i think one of the coolest things about a dogs nose is their interaction with humans. when a dog can tell if a diabetic has low blood sugar it just amazes me. their nose is just awesome.

neat story and could just be a coincidence that my pup may have wanted her head scratched but my pup has never been trained to do the exact thing i just mentioned but my GF is a diabetic and one night watching a movie her blood sugar dropped well belle was laying near her all of a sudden got up (like someone was at the door) but turned toward my GF and started whining and poking her (the poking is normal when she was her head scratched but not the whining). and about that time my gf said she needed some juice to get her blood sugar back up. but for about 15-20 mins my pup would not stop looking at my GF (about the time it takes for the body to recover) before she laid back down. again could have been a coincidence but i think it was my pup was concerned about my GF and knew something was wrong.

Dead-on. Cancer, Diabetic blood chemistry levels and more.

I think many of us do not give credit to or acknowledge how good the dog's scent detection and mental scent sorting are.

Robert Milner, let's think about the British dog that discriminates the running hit pheasant from the dozens of unshot ones that are scrambling in front of him. The trial winner is often the one that continues on the scent trail of the cripple, ignoring the flushing birds.

"Determining and applying the criteria for when and when not to use correction is the essence of the art of dog training. I make a distinction between a mistake and a lack of effort." - Mike Lardy - Volume I "After Collar Conditioning"

Scent is a bear!! I know in running hunt tests, the only time, and I mean this, the only time my dog switched is during a hunt test! And it's because of drifting scent off a blind that can pull her off a memery bird in route~! I know, dirt clod drill is needed! Just saying Scent is a huge factor!

I love it and I'm I'm totally on board with this! The next time my dog unravels at a hunt test I will rest assured that it has nothing to do with my failures as a trainer. It was that pumped-up, nervous guy that ran ahead of me!!!

Of course a dog reacts to odor. Sandia Laboratories did a study in 2002 that determined that a trained explosive detection dog can detect a target odor down in the concentration range of 100 parts per trillion. That in Sandia’s words is “equivalent to one molecule per sniff”. The dog can smell in a manner we cannot conceive of. Of course he responds to odors.However, the dog’s primary communication mode appears to be visual. This is how he communicates with his peers and with people. “Reading the dog” is visual communication. It goes both ways. The dog reads people as well. The big difference is that dogs read people a lot more readily and more accurately than people read dogs. Though a large portion of human communication is non verbal.Next time you give a command to a dog, do it with sun glasses on and standing utterly still, with hands in pockets. See what kind of response you get without that subconscious “tell” that probably usually accompanies the command.

"When he stood up to speak, battalions of words issued forth from his mouth and scoured the countryside in search of an idea, and when they found one, they swiftly and thoroughly beat it to death." ---- -Anonymous

Ken, I think you are on to a very deep concept here. Notice how the more experienced trainers/handlers on this board seldom use the word, "command"? Yet most newbies refer to the "commands" their dogs have learned and/or respond to. This is kind of an illusive thought, far from being formalized or theorized, but maybe with these retrievers we are shaping their natural desires to suit our ends. So when the "nose" takes over, the communication, via the "eyes", breaks down? Getting too deep even for myself. Anyway, thanks for your post Ken. Anything that gets me thinking this hard is welcome!

I think many of us do not give credit to or acknowledge how good the dog's scent detection and mental scent sorting are.

Robert Milner, let's think about the British dog that discriminates the running hit pheasant from the dozens of unshot ones that are scrambling in front of him. The trial winner is often the one that continues on the scent trail of the cripple, ignoring the flushing birds.

I am diabetic!!

MY DOG only tends to remind me cause,, I get up to get me some kinda sugar,, ususally a Cookie,, She gets half!! Lets not get carried away with this stuff...
She only wants the cookie... If I passed out on the floor,, and droped the cookie jar,,, She wouldnt even care I was in the room, let alone on the floor in convulsions!:P) Lets not get carried away with this stuff.....

I am convinced that the dogs I have had in the past reacted to how I was at a test!....Totally nervouse,, cant concentrate,, and very anxious! Transferred to the dog....
Then someone very important to me came into my life, and told me,,, "If you want to be successful at this training stuff,, YOU have to change EVERYTHING about you"

I think HT triggers things in me that are Undesirable.. Nobody dares talk to me in the holding blind.... If I am bent over after running ,, dont come over to ask if I is alright!!...
If you notice when watching me at the line I am lined up on the wrong bird,,, well ,,,, to be honest there isnt any birds, stations,, or guns,, its all a "white Out"

Gooser (In therapy)

It is far easier to spit on the work of others than it is to produce something better yourself.Brynmoors Prairie Sage JH ​(Sage) Just a dang fool huntin DawgHRCH Calypso Seven Bales High SH (Bailey)HR Calypso Zoomin Loosies Mad Hader (Maddi) We loved you baby. R.I.P.HRCH FlatLanders Broken Pistol Ricochet SH (Flinch)

My Christian Name is Michael Baker..
I have gone by "Gooser" since I was a "gossling"

A dog's sense of smell is beyond my comprehension. They find not just a particular scent, but the most recent scent, or "hottest" scent. It's what we do with in Utility level obedience with the scent articles, they have to find the one you most recently handled.
They are able to locate a bitch in season in a 100,000 square foot venue full of thousands of dogs, from all the way across the venue. A particular bitch that he has smelled, not just any bitch, and I'm betting there are many there that are in season.
It just boggles my mind.

(edit to add....on the other hand, he can run right over a chukkar in cover sometimes, just about stepping on it, and just keep on going )